Working Towards the Right Career

One such student is Addie Roop, who earned her bachelor of arts in English from Hood and explored other options and interests after graduation. She worked as an IT recruiter, began a career as a personal trainer, and was an assistant volleyball coach at Hood. Addie explains “what I learned from all of these occupations was that I really wanted to help people, whether it was with their jobs or relationships or just finding themselves and helping them build confidence.”

When Addie got the opportunity to be a graduate assistant coach and pursue her master of science in Counseling, it was a “no brainer.” She remembered all her great experiences as an undergraduate and coach, where “the staff and community are so helpful and make you feel at home…They make it clear that they want you to be your best and it’s exciting to learn from people who love what they do.” With her realization about wanting to help people, Addie knew that the recently started school counseling program would be a great fit. She entered into the program “excited to make an impact on all the kids and families that I’ll be working with. A lot of times kids don’t think they have an adult that accepts or understands them or takes them seriously, so I really wanted to get into school counseling because I believe everyone is worth knowing and worth my time, especially kids who might not have their own voice yet.”

As a graduate student, Addie is excelling. She recently received recognition at an American Counseling Association conference in Atlanta, where she put her English degree to use, entering an essay competition for future school counselor graduate students. Outside of the classroom, Addie calls herself “an avid dabbler,” trying anything sport and outdoor related, the guitar, singing, drawing, and writing poems. She explains that “I’m not exceptionally great at any of them but that’s not always the point.”